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Convoy
Convoy is a 1978 action film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Kris Kristofferson, Ali MacGraw, Ernest Borgnine and Burt Young. The movie is based on the 1975 country and western novelty song "Convoy" by C.W. McCall and Chip Davis. The film was made when the CB Radio/trucking craze was at its peak in the United States, and followed the similarly themed films Smokey and the Bandit, White Line Fever and the television series Movin' On. Plot Truck driver Martin "Rubber Duck" Penwald is driving through the desert in Arizona, when a woman in a Jaguar E-Type passes by. They're driving side by side for a while when a sheriff's deputy pulls over Rubber Duck, who in turn sets the deputy upon the woman who was "enticing him". Proceeding on his way, Rubber Duck runs into fellow truck drivers Pig Pen/Love Machine and Spider Mike, when another "trucker" informs them over the C.B. that they are okay to increase their speed. The "trucker" also insults Pig Pen by calling his Mack truck a "pussy." As they come around a sharp turn at 75 mph, they are caught by the "trucker," corrupt county Sheriff "Dirty Lyle" Wallace. After being extorted by Lyle for $50 dollars each and eventually $70 when both Pig Pen and Mike insult Wallace, the Duck informs Wallace that The Teamsters are organizing the cops to which Lyle responds that he wants no part of the Duck's damn union. The Duck reminds Wallace that he is independent and Lyle comments that they have that in common to which The Duck answers back that there also not many of them (Duck and Wallace) left. Duck, Pig Pen and Mike leave and head on to Rafael's Glide-In where The Duck's sometime girlfriend, Violet, works as a waitress. Also there is Melissa, the driver of the Jaguar. Her car had broken down and is there for repairs and she is selling Widow Woman some of her things so she can have money to leave Arizona. The Duck arrives and reunites with Violet and meets Melissa face to face, Melissa informs Violet that she knows The Duck because he was the one who told the cop she was nude driving. The Duck asks Melissa if she has ever ridden in a truck and she says no, but is intrigued by him and might take him on his offer to ride in his truck. Violet then ushers him away to give him a special birthday present. While away Wallace shows up at the Glide-In checking plates. Pig Pen and Spider Mike start making fun of Wallace over CB radio (pretending that they are in their trucks) as Wallace drives around the truck stop, but when the waitress makes some noise in the background collecting dirty plates, Wallace finds where they are and enters the diner and asks Pig Pen how much money he has and he shows Wallace his roll of bills. When Spider Mike informs Wallace that he has no money, Wallace attempts to arrest him. The Duck enters (after Widow Woman had informed via CB of Lyle being the Diner with a "look of pain" on his face) and tries to break things up and smooth things over. But Lyle is determined and Mike informs him that he has to get home because his wife is due to give birth. Lyle insults Mike by asking who the father is and pushes Mike and Mike punches Wallace. Lyle reaches for his gun and Duck kicks Lyle, knocking him out. Pig Pen informs him "well you blew Arizona..." knowing they will get arrested if they stay Duck orders everyone to their trucks and begins to handcuff Wallace, at that moment two other sheriff officers come in (one of them being the officer Duck had met at the beginning of the movie). A fight soon breaks out involving The Duck, Pig Pen, Mike, Widow Woman and a couple of other truckers. The truckers prevail and The Duck handcuffs Wallace to a bar stool. After pulling the spark plug wires and distributor caps out of the police cars, they all decide to head for the state line to avoid prosecution. The truckers drive across Arizona and New Mexico, with Wallace in belated pursuit. While on the run, Widow Woman's truck rolls over, so she hops in another truck. The initial police pursuit is foiled when Duck leads the truckers off the main highway and down a desert trail, causing several of the police cars to crash. Wallace commandeers the vehicle of one of the state troopers, but is also thwarted when Pig Pen and Spider Mike crush his vehicle between their rigs wilst in motion. Wallace orders that the local state police set up a roadblock, but Rubber Duck tells the police that the contents of the tanker he is pulling are explosive. Upon hearing this, the police clear the road block and let the convoy proceed undeterred. Additional independent truckers join them to form a mile-longconvoy in support of the Rubber Duck's vendetta against the abusive Wallace. The truckers communicate with each other via CB Radio, and much CB jargon is sprinkled throughout the film. As the rebellious truckers evade and confront the police, Rubber Duck becomes a reluctant folk hero. It becomes apparent the truckers have a great deal of political support and the Governor of New Mexico, Jerry Haskins, meets Rubber Duck. At about the same time, Wallace and a brutal Alvarez, Texas sheriff, arrest Spider Mike, who left the convoy to be with his wife after giving birth to their son. Wallace's plan is to trap Rubber Duck. A janitor at the jail, unaware of the plan, messages by CB radio that Spider Mike has been arrested and beaten. Various truckers relay the message to New Mexico. Rubber Duck ends the meeting with Haskins and leaves to rescue Spider Mike. Several other truckers join him and head east to Texas. The truckers eventually destroy half of the town and the jail and rescue Spider Mike. Knowing they will now be hunted by the authorities, the truckers head for the border of Mexico. On the way, Rubber Duck gets separated from the rest of the convoy when the others get stopped by a traffic accident. The film culminates with a showdown near the United States-Mexico border where Rubber Duck is forced to face Wallace and a National Guard unit stationed on a bridge. Firing an M60 machine gun on top of an M42 Duster, Wallace and the Guardsmen destroy the truck causing it to plummet from the bridge and crash into the churning river. A public funeral is held for Rubber Duck, in which Haskins promises to work for the truckers by taking their case to Washington, D.C. Disgusted with the politics of the situation, Pig Pen abruptly leaves the funeral. A distraught Melissa is led to a school bus with several "long-haired friends of Jesus" inside. There she finds Rubber Duck in disguise sitting in the back. He asks, "You ever seen a duck that couldn't swim?" The convoy takes to the road with the coffin in tow, abruptly ending the politicians' speeches. As the bus passes Wallace, he spies the Duck and bursts into laughter. Cast http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Convoy_(1978_film)&action=edit&section=2 edit *Kris Kristofferson as Martin 'Rubber Duck' Penwald *Ali MacGraw as Melissa *Ernest Borgnine as Sheriff Lyle 'Cottonmouth' Wallace *Burt Young as Bobby 'Love Machine' 'Pig Pen' *Madge Sinclair as Widow Woman *Franklyn Ajaye as Spider Mike *Brian Davies as Chuck Arnoldi *Seymour Cassel as Governor Jerry Haskins *Cassie Yates as Violet *Walter Kelley as Federal Agent Hamilton *Billy Hughes as Pack Rat *Jorge Russek as Sheriff Tiny Alvarez *Patrice Martinez as Maria *Donnie Fritts as Reverend Sloane Category:1978 films